I was quite surprised when I took a look at this Sweet Gum tree on my property. It is close to my neighbor’s line and had a large hole in it. The hold always seemed to be full of water and dripping liquid. I was actually concerned it was rotting and worried it could fall on the neighbor’s house. I had an arborist look at the Sweet Gum and he said it would be fine for now.

Apparently, it was healing itself with all that dripping fluid. It went from a big hole to completely closed. If only I knew that was happening, I would have documented the healing.

Another Sweet Gum on the property has a hollow hole and it has not healed itself. It has provided refuge for opossum mothers and snakes.

The tree’s botanical name is Liquidambar styraciflua. There was certainly a large quantity of liquid coming out of the wound. The sap of the Sweet Gum tree can be dried and used for chewing gum. (Do your own research before trying.) The sap was used for gum flavor into the 1920’s.

Sweetgums are amazing and where I come from considered trash trees. Not sure what Texans think of them. I was interested to find in England and Australia they are called Liquidambars and have many cultivars beloved for fall color!

In a good year, the leaves are colorful (for here). This past year the leaves turned brown and fell off early. I’m not sure a landscaper would put one in. Mine are native, but they are nice big leafy trees.

This is a reason for not using chemical sealants when pruning our trees; the tree does a much better job of healing its wounds. Also this is why we shouldn’t prune when a tree is dormant as used to be thought.

Most people don’t like this tree because of its prickly pods, but I think they’re cool. I had no idea that its sap could be used as chewing gum. The Karankawa Indians might have liked it. They used to chew tar from the natural seeps along the coast.

Your mention of self-healing reminded me of the plant called self-heal.